Soundbyte (-byte series Book 5)

by Cat Connor

  “I’m looking for two men and a woman. We have reason to believe this man has a cabin somewhere here.” I passed him my phone with a photo of Campbell on it. “Police said you’d probably know where.”

  “That’s John Fredericks. He’s a weekend fisherman. Keeps to himself. I spoke to him for a few minutes yesterday, he was planning on doing some fishing.”

  “We know him as Iain Campbell. Ever heard that name?”

  He shook his head.

  I leaned over and flicked the screen of my phone, revealing a photo of Maria.

  “She was with him,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “She was quiet, didn’t make eye contact. I thought she was ill and offered to call the local doctor but Fredericks said she was motion sick.”

  “Ever seen her before?”

  “No.”

  “Is Fredericks married?”

  “Not that I know of. He only comes out for weekends and I haven’t seen him in a good while,” he said.

  I flicked my finger across the screen again. “Seen this man?”

  “No.”

  “Thanks.” I took my phone back. “Where’s Fredericks’ cabin?”

  “Three miles upriver. The road stops about a mile back, you’ll have to hike the rest of the way.”

  “Thanks.”

  I left his office.

  Outside the ranger station, we conferred for a few minutes. Our cell reception was still good, given the huge number of tweets and text messages that arrived over the morning. Carla had text messaged me at least twenty times. Every message said she just wanted to hang with Joey. I considered calling her teacher and having her phone confiscated.

  The majority of the tweets were from Foundation kids, with a few from others saying they’d seen a woman matching Maria’s description in various places around the State. No more sightings in Harper’s Ferry. I discounted the other supposed sightings.

  “All right, we’ll drive as far as we can, then hike in,” I said, looking over at the fork in the river.

  “If she’s with Maguire, they may not be at the cabin,” Sam said.

  “That’s true, but that’s all we have. And Campbell is somewhere.”

  Sam followed my gaze. “Wonder how deep that river gets …” A sudden breeze carried his voice away.

  “I think we should find out …” I replied. “Might have to call in divers.”

  Lee shuffled from foot to foot. “Divers?”

  “Uh huh. Problem?”

  “No. Not at all,” he replied, his skin flushed a little pinker than usual and his eyes crinkled as he smiled.

  “Is there a particular diver we should call?” I said, feigning innocence. Did he think we didn’t know about Tara? Tight team, spies everywhere. She was the world’s worst kept secret. Tara was a member of the FBI Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team, stationed in Washington.

  He rocked from foot to foot, plunging his hands into his jacket pockets. “Nah. Yeah. Maybe.”

  “Man, I hope USERT aren’t busy when our call comes in,” I said walking to the car. I looked back over my shoulder. “She is in USERT working out of DC, isn’t she?”

  Sam slapped Lee on the back and laughed. “We all know.”

  Lee grinned, his eyes danced. “I shoulda known better.”

  “Yeah, you should,” Kurt replied as he eased into the driver’s seat of our car.

  Sam and Lee tossed a coin to see who would drive theirs. For us, it was easy. Kurt drove and I zoned out and let my mind go mad trying to figure things out.

  Twenty-Five

  Two Story Town

  The heavens opened, sending a deluge to earth. Kurt pulled off the road, unable to see anything out the windscreen. A few minutes later the rain stopped. Clouds parted and the sun broke free. A good omen? Time would tell.

  My phone rang. Grange blared. I turned down the volume on the ringer before I answered the call. I read the name on the display. Noel Gerrard.

  “Noel, I’m putting you on speaker. Kurt’s here with me. Where the hell did you go?”

  “Hey, Kurt. I was called into the office,” he said. “The Director decided you could handle this without NCIS input.”

  Noel sounded too perky for someone called off a case. Kurt and I both frowned at the phone sitting between us.

  “What’s going on?”

  “SEALs confirmed a kill. Take Bin Laden off the most wanted list.”

  “Seriously? Good job!” Kurt said.

  “Guess there will be some celebrating tonight?” I said.

  “Low key, but you can bet on it.”

  “And the real reason you called right now?” I knew him. This wasn’t about explaining his absence or giving us the news about Bin Laden. He had information.

  “Campbell. No one seems to be able to access his military file. Be very careful.”

  “Will do. And why can’t anyone open it?”

  “He’s still on active service, which may mean he’s under cover.”

  “Don’t suppose you have anything else?” Kurt said.

  “Afraid not. He’s involved in abducting Doyle and if he is as dangerous as her boyfriend has led us to believe, then tracking him could bring down a world of hurt on you and her. I think his cover is well established and that he’s been using it for years.”

  Or that he shelved the cover intact and pulled it out again to help Maria. But why? Why come back into her life at that exact moment? How did he know what was going to happen?

  “Thanks. I’ve got a bit to think about,” I said. “See you when we get back, Noel.”

  I hung up and looked at Kurt. “I need a minute to think.”

  He nodded. Sam climbed into the back of our car, followed by Lee. The three men talked about the conversation with Noel.

  I fished my iPod from my pocket and stuffed in the ear buds. Music. I needed to hear something other than their talking. Something that would help my mind sift through the information so far and make some kind of order from it.

  I remembered everything from the file O’Hare gave me on the abduction of Doyle. He wasn’t using a disposable cover. Backstopping popped into my thought process. Backstopping was a CIA term for providing appropriate verification and support for an alias used by an agent. He and Doyle lived in the house where the elderly couple was killed and the neighbors knew them as Iain and Maria Campbell. What confused me was the appearance of Brown or Maguire or whoever he was at that house. What was he doing there? How did he know about the house?

  As if this case wasn’t messy enough, with the CIA involved it almost guaranteed this would get even messier. I was the only one who believed for sure that Campbell was working for the CIA. They had a long history of working with the military.

  I removed the ear buds and turned off my iPod.

  “We need to know why Campbell is involved,” I said. “He’s using an established cover but I doubt knowing that will help us.”

  “You are convinced he is who you think he is?” Sam said.

  “I have no doubt in my mind,” I replied. “I also am thin on proof, which is often the way when the CIA are involved in anything.”

  “Which begs the questions, what the hell does a spook have to do with a hit man and why were the Bleich family killed? And why abduct Maria Doyle and how come no one else mentioned they were married? Why not try harder to get hold of us, or go to her brother, the Director?” Sam said.

  “All good questions,” I said.

  “I think he has trust issues,” Sam said. “There is something big going on here and we’re just scratching the tip of it.”

  I twisted around in my seat and leaned on the door. “Very good points, Sam.” It could be that he doesn’t trust anyone. If that’s the case, then we need to know why. “What if Campbell is lost, or maybe he’s been set free by whatever agency. Maybe he has no backup? If he did a few things to put us on his trail …” Sending me a flash drive telling me Maria was in danger was sure to get my attention.
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br />   “You think whatever he was involved in has turned bad?”

  “I have no idea, I’m simply conjecturing.”

  We all considered the conjectural developments as more rain pelted from the sky, drowning out any hope of conversation for several minutes.

  “This can’t be about diamonds, no matter how cursed, surely?” Lee said.

  “Diamonds are currency,” I said. “You can buy a lot of weapons with diamonds that big.”

  “We have nothing to suggest weapons trade,” Kurt replied.

  “No, you’re right, we don’t,” I said. “We have someone with a secret military file and an Irish contractor.”

  Sam tipped his head back and chuckled. “You’re right, Chicky Babe, this could be about arms.”

  That’s why nothing made sense. We didn’t know what it was about. We were lacking a motive.

  “I have a suspicion that Zachary thinks this is all about something else.”

  “Chicky Babe?” Sam said. “How so?”

  “I think for him this is about greed. I’m still waiting on DNA confirmation but if Zachary suspected or knew his brothers were half-brothers, and his mother was an adulteress, that could be a tipping point. I don’t think the father knew. Or if he did, he’d only just found out.” I was pulling things from the air and sliding them into position on an electronic board in my mind. I was playing Tetris with someone else’s life. “Zachary made contact with either Maguire or Campbell first. He wanted someone to get rid of the competition – his family – and get him the stones.”

  They sat open-mouthed as I reeled off my speculative and unsubstantiated ideas.

  “He doesn’t want to trade the diamonds for weapons. He wants to utilize the curse, to harness the power.”

  Lee sat forward. “Why?”

  “Because power is control. He wants power.”

  “And, maybe Maguire came on board for the whole purpose of taking the stones for other reasons?”

  “I’d say so.”

  “Campbell was banging Mrs. Bleich. Coincidence? Or is he somehow involved in the deaths of the family? Maybe that wasn’t enough, maybe he couldn’t get close enough to the family that way, or get the diamonds – perhaps he is a greedy bastard and just wanted the pretty stones.”

  “Maybe,” Lee replied. “Or maybe he just likes older broads and that part of the equation is coincidence?”

  Mac piped up in my head, “Maybe’s ass, Babe.”

  My internal voice responded, “You need to learn to shut up.”

  You’d think a double tap would silence a ghost for longer than it has.

  “Let’s go, this rain is going to be on and off all morning. We need to get Doyle, no matter what Campbell is into.”

  I had a feeling that Maria Doyle didn’t believe Campbell when he said she was in danger and that her beloved boyfriend was a cold, calculating killer. She may have even told Maguire/Brown that and where they were going. That could explain why it was Maguire at the diner with Doyle but it didn’t explain why Doyle was still alive. He could kill her and frame Campbell and be gone before anyone figured it out. I knew he was supposed to be Doyle’s boyfriend but I didn’t for one second think he had any feelings for the woman – my gut twinged again. To me the relationship with Maria Doyle seemed more like a convenience but I didn’t know why. I climbed out of the car. Sam and Lee grabbed their gear from their car.

  I pulled on an FBI jacket then took my backpack from the trunk and hooked my arms through it. We stood in a huddle on the side of the road. The rain was now nothing more than a misty annoyance.

  “We ready?” Kurt said. He was going to lead the team. There was a collective nod. Kurt held his right hand out. I put mine on top of his. Sam and Lee followed suit. “Alert and safe.”

  “Alert and safe,” we echoed. The circle broke away into a single file unit. Led by Kurt we left the roadside and wound into the woods.

  We’d walked almost a hundred yards before I was sure I could feel eyes. Not animal eyes. Electronic eyes. I fell back two paces to Lee.

  “You got your toy?”

  He nodded. “Got a new RF signal detector last week.”

  “Is it good?”

  “It’s fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of awesome. You think we’re under surveillance?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if I were either of them, I’d have the woods rigged with wireless cameras.”

  Hell, I have the entire perimeter of my property under constant video and audio surveillance. I don’t advertise it. Sean O’Hare’s security company handles my security needs. It’s no happenstance that he shares the same last name as our esteemed Director. They’re twins. Sean has a deep dark past and a few years ago made personal security his specialty. I suspect the reason he is so good at safeguarding others is because he was excellent at circumventing security systems and personal security to get his target. Whatever. It worked for me and my family, right up until Mac’s ghost came to call and drank my tequila.

  Lee shucked his backpack from his shoulders, unzipped it and dug out a hard case. Moments later, he held a smallish object in his hand. But then everything looks small in Lee’s hands.

  I caught up to Kurt and tapped his shoulder. “Wait up.”

  Kurt turned to face us. Sam stepped up until we were back in a small circle.

  “Chicky thinks we have eyes and ears on us,” Lee said. “Turn off all the cell phones and the GPS unit.”

  We did as Lee asked before he turned on his new toy.

  A few minutes passed and then Lee grinned at me. “Check this out,” he said, walking over to a tree about five yards from our position. I followed.

  Lee touched something on the unit in his hand and a constant beep sounded. He’d turned it from vibrate to audio. He parted the leaves on a branch about head height and revealed a very small black object, about the size of a matchbox.

  “Smile pretty for the camera, folks,” Lee said before picking it up, He handed me the box. I opened the casing and removed the tiny batteries. I shoved the batteries in one pocket and the camera in another. The machine in Lee’s hand continued to beep. He followed the sound to another camera on the other side of the track, about fifteen yards forward.

  Kurt took the camera this time, removed the batteries, and shoved the whole lot in his pocket.

  The RF detector fell silent.

  “Think I’ll keep this on vibrate mode while we continue,” Lee said. “Whoever is here doesn’t want surprise visitors.”

  “We’re not surprises anymore,” I replied, racking the slide and then holstering my Glock. One by one, the men all chambered a round. I walked two yards behind Lee, who now had point. We were staggered, in even increments. Going slow, watching for traps. Lee, me, Kurt, Sam, walking in silence as adrenaline surged.

  I checked my compass. Sometimes old tech is the way to go, undetectable old tech. I signaled to Kurt and Sam that I wanted them to break away to the right. I caught up to Lee and tapped twice on his left shoulder. He and I continued left. Now none of us was on the faint path we’d been following. The cabin was ahead on the path. I wasn’t happy about walking into an ambush. We didn’t know how much of our approach had been transmitted via the cameras. Safer to imagine Maguire knew there were four of us and act accordingly.

  We were going old school. No cell phones, no electronics, no way of communicating except through visual signals. My body conducted its own fight trying to control the escalating adrenaline and calm my breathing. Coming around the other side of the cabin was half my team, making the danger of shooting and death by friendly fire ever present. I stopped thinking.

  No one was going to die today.

  Lee and I separated as soon as we saw the side of the cabin through the trees. We took up covered positions. Beyond the cabin I saw movement – I recognized Sam for a spilt second before he disappeared again into the undergrowth. I took off my backpack and slid it to the ground. From the gun bag attached to the
pack, I removed my rifle and attached the holographic sight. I moved a little, found the highest spot that gave me the best view into the single grime-covered window. Lying prone on the wet ground between a tree stump and a boulder, I used the sight and looked for movement.

  “Lee,” I whispered. “What you got?”

  “Nothing.”

  I kept looking. No movement. No sign of life.

  “He may not be in there,” Lee whispered. He commando crawled forward, making good use of the undergrowth.

  A twig snapped.

  I scanned the other side of the clearing in front of the cabin. I saw something move toward where I knew Sam and Kurt were. Using the sight I watched for more movement, hoping it was an animal and not Maguire. I glimpsed faded blue jeans through the scrubby plants under the trees. Not an animal. I hoped Sam and Kurt could deal with it.

  I swung my rifle back to the cabin. Something glinted beyond the grime. Someone was in there. Looking through the sight on my rifle, I found a relatively clear patch in the window.

  The window shattered from the inside. Lee crawled backwards, taking cover behind a rock. We knew there was the possibility of a hunting rifle in the cabin, but we didn’t know what other weapons Maguire or Campbell had. But something fired through the window.

  I watched. My finger played on and off the trigger. My elbows dug into the stony ground. Another shot. I thumped the ground with the toe of my boot. Lee heard and reacted.

  From cover he called out. “FBI! Put down the weapons and come out the front door!”

  An answering shot followed.

  Lee tried again. “FBI! Put. Down. The. Gun. Exit. With. Your. Hands. Above. Your. Head.”

  I waited.

  Another shot erupted from the cabin. I couldn’t see much beyond the jagged glass in the window. Best guess. I fired.

  More gunfire followed.

  I missed.

  A shaft of light reflected from broken glass and hit my eyes as I adjusted my position on the ground. With a slow deep breath, I focused on what was beyond the smashed window.